Editing Agriculture (section)

== Crop alteration and biotechnology ==

=== Plant breeding ===
{{Main|Plant breeding}}
[[File:Wheat selection k10183-1.jpg|thumb|left|Wheat cultivar tolerant of high [[salinity]] (left) compared with non-tolerant variety]]

Crop alteration has been practiced by humankind for thousands of years, since the beginning of civilization. Altering crops through breeding practices changes the genetic make-up of a plant to develop crops with more beneficial characteristics for humans, for example, larger fruits or seeds, drought-tolerance, or resistance to pests. Significant advances in plant breeding ensued after the work of geneticist [[Gregor Mendel]]. His work on [[dominant allele|dominant]] and [[recessive allele]]s, although initially largely ignored for almost 50 years, gave plant breeders a better understanding of genetics and breeding techniques. Crop breeding includes techniques such as plant selection with desirable traits, [[self-pollination]] and [[cross-pollination]], and molecular techniques that genetically modify the organism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cls.casa.colostate.edu/TransgenicCrops/history.html |title=History of Plant Breeding |date=29 January 2004 |publisher=[[Colorado State University]] |access-date=11 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121061931/http://cls.casa.colostate.edu/TransgenicCrops/history.html |archive-date=21 January 2013}}</ref>

Domestication of plants has, over the centuries increased yield, improved disease resistance and [[drought tolerance]], eased harvest and improved the taste and nutritional value of crop plants. Careful selection and breeding have had enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant selection and breeding in the 1920s and 1930s improved pasture (grasses and clover) in New Zealand. Extensive X-ray and ultraviolet induced mutagenesis efforts (i.e. primitive genetic engineering) during the 1950s produced the modern commercial varieties of grains such as wheat, corn (maize) and barley.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stadler |first=L. J. |author-link=Lewis Stadler |author2=Sprague, G.F. |title=Genetic Effects of Ultra-Violet Radiation in Maize: I. Unfiltered Radiation |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=22 |issue=10 |pages=572–578 |date=15 October 1936 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/22/10/579.pdf |doi=10.1073/pnas.22.10.572 |access-date=11 October 2007 |pmid=16588111 |pmc=1076819 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024233407/http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/22/10/579.pdf |archive-date=24 October 2007 |url-status=live |bibcode=1936PNAS...22..572S |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Berg |first=Paul |author2=Singer, Maxine |title=George Beadle: An Uncommon Farmer. The Emergence of Genetics in the 20th century |url=https://archive.org/details/georgebeadleunco0000berg |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory]] Press |date=15 August 2003 |isbn=978-0-87969-688-7}}</ref>
[[File:Seedlings in Green House.jpg|thumb|Seedlings in a green house. This is what it looks like when seedlings are growing from plant breeding.]]
The [[Green Revolution]] popularized the use of conventional [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] to sharply increase yield by creating "high-yielding varieties". For example, average yields of corn (maize) in the US have increased from around 2.5 tons per hectare (t/ha) (40 bushels per acre) in 1900 to about 9.4 t/ha (150 bushels per acre) in 2001. Similarly, worldwide average wheat yields have increased from less than 1 t/ha in 1900 to more than 2.5 t/ha in 1990. South American average wheat yields are around 2 t/ha, African under 1 t/ha, and Egypt and Arabia up to 3.5 to 4 t/ha with irrigation. In contrast, the average wheat yield in countries such as France is over 8 t/ha. Variations in yields are due mainly to variation in climate, genetics, and the level of intensive farming techniques (use of fertilizers, chemical pest control, and growth control to avoid lodging).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ruttan |first=Vernon W. |title=Biotechnology and Agriculture: A Skeptical Perspective |journal=AgBioForum |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=54–60 |date=December 1999 |url=http://www.agbioforum.org/v2n1/v2n1a10-ruttan.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521021149/http://www.agbioforum.org/v2n1/v2n1a10-ruttan.pdf |archive-date=21 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Cassman |first=K. |title=Ecological intensification of cereal production systems: The Challenge of increasing crop yield potential and precision agriculture |journal=Proceedings of a National Academy of Sciences Colloquium, Irvine, California |date=5 December 1998 |url=http://www.lsc.psu.edu/nas/Speakers/Cassman%20manuscript.html |access-date=11 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024001804/http://www.lsc.psu.edu/nas/Speakers/Cassman%20manuscript.html |archive-date=24 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Conversion note: 1 bushel of wheat=60&nbsp;pounds (lb) ≈ 27.215&nbsp;kg. 1 bushel of maize=56&nbsp;pounds ≈ 25.401&nbsp;kg</ref>
[[File:IP Related Innovation in Agriculture 2000-2021.png|left|thumb|Increase of [[intellectual property]] protection for agri inventions, as seen in the total number of [[patent]]s, [[utility model]]s and [[Variety (botany)|plant varieties]] equivalent protection systems applied for on agricultural innovation worldwide.]]
Investments into [[innovation]] for agriculture are long term. This is because it takes time for research to become commercialized and for technology to be adapted to meet multiple regions’ needs, as well as meet national guidelines before being adopted and planted in a farmer's fields. For instance, it took at least 60 years from the introduction of [[Heterosis|hybrid corn]] technology before its adoption became widespread.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web |title=World Intellectual Property Report 2024 - 3 The importance of local capabilities in AgTech specialization |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/world-intellectual-property-report-2024/en/3-the-importance-of-local-capabilities-in-agtech-specialization.html |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=World Intellectual Property Report 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Griliches |first=Zvi |date=1957 |title=Hybrid Corn: An Exploration in the Economics of Technological Change |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1905380 |journal=Econometrica |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=501–522 |doi=10.2307/1905380 |jstor=1905380 |issn=0012-9682}}</ref>

Agricultural innovation developed for the specific agroecological conditions of one region is not easily transferred and used in another region with different agroecological conditions. Instead, the innovation would have to be adapted to the specific conditions of that other region and respect its [[biodiversity]] and environmental requirements and guidelines. Some such adaptations can be seen through the steadily increasing number of plant varieties protected under the plant variety protection instrument administered by the [[International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants]] (UPOV).<ref name=":15" />

=== Genetic engineering ===
{{Main|Genetic engineering}}
{{See also|Genetically modified food|Genetically modified crops|Regulation of the release of genetic modified organisms|Genetically modified food controversies}}
[[File:CSIRO ScienceImage 382 Genetically Modified Potatoes.jpg|thumb|[[Genetically modified crops|Genetically modified]] potato plants (left) resist virus diseases that damage unmodified plants (right).]]

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are [[organism]]s whose [[Genetics|genetic]] material has been altered by genetic engineering techniques generally known as [[recombinant DNA technology]]. Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to use in creating desired germlines for new crops. Increased durability, nutritional content, insect and virus resistance and herbicide tolerance are a few of the attributes bred into crops through genetic engineering.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/index.html |title=20 Questions on Genetically Modified Foods |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327015739/http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/index.html |archive-date=27 March 2013}}</ref> For some, GMO crops cause [[food safety]] and [[food labeling regulations|food labeling]] concerns. Numerous countries have placed restrictions on the production, import or use of GMO foods and crops.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://current.com/groups/news-blog/93975745_peru-bans-genetically-modified-foods-as-us-lags.htm |title=Peru bans genetically modified foods as US lags |date=28 November 2012 |publisher=Current TV |access-date=7 May 2013 |author=Whiteside, Stephanie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324013255/http://current.com/groups/news-blog/93975745_peru-bans-genetically-modified-foods-as-us-lags.htm |archive-date=24 March 2013}}</ref> The [[Biosafety Protocol]], an international treaty, regulates the trade of GMOs. There is ongoing discussion regarding the labeling of foods made from GMOs, and while the EU currently requires all GMO foods to be labeled, the US does not.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shiva, Vandana |author-link=Vandana Shiva |title=Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace |publisher=[[South End Press]] |location=Cambridge, MA |year=2005}}</ref>

Herbicide-resistant seeds have a gene implanted into their genome that allows the plants to tolerate exposure to herbicides, including [[glyphosate]]. These seeds allow the farmer to grow a crop that can be sprayed with herbicides to control weeds without harming the resistant crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops are used by farmers worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y5031e/y5031e0i.htm |title=Benefits and risks of the use of herbicide-resistant crops |author1=Kathrine Hauge Madsen |author2=Jens Carl Streibig |publisher=FAO |access-date=4 May 2013 |website=Weed Management for Developing Countries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604013840/http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y5031e/y5031e0i.htm |archive-date=4 June 2013}}</ref> With the increasing use of herbicide-tolerant crops, comes an increase in the use of glyphosate-based herbicide sprays. In some areas glyphosate resistant weeds have developed, causing farmers to switch to other herbicides.<ref name="Farmers Guide to GMOs">{{cite web |url=http://www.rafiusa.org/pubs/Farmers_Guide_to_GMOs.pdf |title=Farmers Guide to GMOs |publisher=Rural Advancement Foundation International |access-date=16 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501145751/http://www.rafiusa.org/pubs/Farmers_Guide_to_GMOs.pdf |archive-date=1 May 2012 |date=11 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-02-13/report-raises-alarm-over-superweedsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice |title=Report Raises Alarm over 'Super-weeds' |journal=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |date=13 February 2008 |author=Hindo, Brian |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226181242/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-02-13/report-raises-alarm-over-superweedsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice |archive-date=26 December 2016}}</ref> Some studies also link widespread glyphosate usage to iron deficiencies in some crops, which is both a crop production and a nutritional quality concern, with potential economic and health implications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ozturk |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=Glyphosate inhibition of ferric reductase activity in iron deficient sunflower roots |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5669940 |journal=[[New Phytologist]] |volume=177 |issue=4 |pages=899–906 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02340.x |pmid=18179601 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113232909/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5669940 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2008NewPh.177..899O }}</ref>

Other GMO crops used by growers include insect-resistant crops, which have a gene from the soil bacterium ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis]]'' (Bt), which produces a toxin specific to insects. These crops resist damage by insects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/biotech/insect.htm |title=Insect-resistant Crops Through Genetic Engineering |publisher=[[University of Illinois]] |access-date=4 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121073949/http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/biotech/insect.htm |archive-date=21 January 2013}}</ref> Some believe that similar or better pest-resistance traits can be acquired through traditional breeding practices, and resistance to various pests can be gained through hybridization or cross-pollination with wild species. In some cases, wild species are the primary source of resistance traits; some tomato cultivars that have gained resistance to at least 19 diseases did so through crossing with wild populations of tomatoes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kimbrell |first=A. |title=Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture |publisher=Island Press |location=Washington |year=2002}}</ref>

{{anchor|Criticisms}}